Book Review: Blood Kiss by J .R. Ward

Hi readers, 

So, I'm finally reviewing this! I read it like in July but it's only now I've got around to writing about due to everything else that I've been writing about. I double checked the publishing date and this came out last year, but as normal I had to wait for it to become paperback and then to get around to reading it. I remember being super excited to hear that Ward, who is my second favorite author, was bringing out a new series that connected to the Brotherhood and that she'd gone back to how she had originally written those first few books, which I fell in love with.

I didn't feel disappointment, nothing has changed in her writing style or characters, but I was hoping that the story would focus more on the new characters and what seems to be the next generation of the Brotherhood. Instead though, the plot is divided into two; Paradise and Craeg's love story and Butch and Marissa murder mystery story. Both do work well together and it's typical of Ward's Brotherhood novels to be divided into two or three story plots that feel equal balanced. 

However, this means that if you've not read any of the Brotherhood books it's harder to understand. All, the characters have already been set up and everything. Though, the history between Butch and Marissa is gone over so readers can remember and understand it, I think if you haven't read their story it can be difficult to get into their relationship. I would have much preferred the Butch and Marissa story to have been in an actual Brotherhood book, but Ward has tied in the plot nicely, so it doesn't feel as jarring. 

The plot is that Paradise gets recruited into the Brotherhood's training program. Finally, she has a chance to prove she's more then just a pretty face! Of course, falling in love was never a part of the plan, but we know from one of the previous Brotherhood book when Paradise and Craeg meet that something is going to happen between them. Paradise and the other recruits have a trail to get through and of course she and Craeg pass and then like so do three other guys. Then they begin their training. Alongside this is Butch's story and he's having problems in his marriage - basically it's a communication break down brought on by a problem in the past. 

The characters are really good and do feel realistic with their true to life problems. There is a good develop for all of them too, with Butch and Marissa overcoming their problems to save their marriage and Paradise and Craeg overcome their barriers and let the love between them grow. Time is spend with some of the other characters, but not much becomes of them due to the fact there's so many and they each have their own novels. 

Overall, this novel is good and fits well into the Brotherhood series and its nice to see different and new characters. I still would have liked it if this novel had just been about them though as then it would be easier for new readers to pick up and there'd also be less focus on the Brotherhood. Hopefully, this might come through more in other books in the series. I'm looking forward to reading to reading the second one now and also the next Brotherhood book, I think it might have all ready come out but I'm still awaiting it. 

Thanks for reading.           

Soulless: The Manga, Volumes 1-3 by Gail Carriger

Hi Readers,

Just had to take a moment there because for some reason I thought it wasn't Monday! It was really weird because I knew it was Sunday yesterday so why would my brain think it was any other day? I don't know. Anyway, so today I'm continuing to review Gail Carriger's Soulless/The Parasol Protectorate Series with the Manga Trilogy. I decided to write about these three books together as they just re-tell the first three novels and nothing new is added.

I'd so recommended reading my reviews on the novels before reading this because I don't plan to go into the same level as detail as I did for them. Also, I'd say to read those novels before you read the manga. This is because I found that somethings that happened in the books don't appear in the manga. Those things were mostly details about the other plot lines and characters, which just had more depth. In a way, I wish I'd read something else to clear my head before racing through these mangas, but it was also good because of the things I noticed.

What I did love about these was that the opening pages are colored in so you get a sense of how the manga artist has interpreted Carriger's descriptions. I found that the drawings were also good and it sparked my wanting to read more manga! The opening to the first book is actually something that is set a little bit into the first novel. Alexia and her family are at breakfast and her step-sister is reading the newspaper that tells of how a woman was attacked at the ball they all want to last night. Then we get the flash back of this event. Though that is the actual opening to the novel.

So, basically the manga trilogy is a condensed version which focus on the main plot from the novels. This actually works very well and I couldn't see it done any other way. I love the drawings of the different dresses and the wolves! The characters do come across well, but I got a lot more about them from the novels then I did from the manga trilogy. It was interesting to see the characters in a different way though.

I did enjoy the first book and it was a refreshing read for me. The second one followed on from the first and covered most of the second novel.
  

The opening pages were once again in color and I do wish that the rest of them were too! But I'm guessing that would be real expensive. Anyway, this time Alexia is on a trip to Scotland to catch up with her husband and solve the loss of supernatural elements. I did like the flying airships and the sense of adventure in this one though. It does stick more true to the second novel then the first I thought, but once again it's a very cut down version of the main plot and it didn't seem to have much of the other plots that the novel had. 

I liked reading it though and I think it shows that novels can convert in manga easily enough. I don't think it took me very long to read and the others either, though I did try to space it out to enjoy them more. Also, I wouldn't say these books are aimed at children. They were done for the fans and readers of the novels. There's some nudity and a bit of violence, but not that much that easily offends. The dialogue is simple and short like in other mangas and comics. For my dyslexic brain it was a nice break! And I did really enjoy reading them.

The third book fits in well and it's a shame they only decided to do a trilogy! I think books four and five would have worked out okay, but for some reason they stop here. The actual ending is nice enough, but I really felt the wanting to read more! I did try to see if I could find anything in the same vein of Victorian Steampunk, but I haven't found anything I liked. If you know of any manga series comment and let me know. 

Overall, I enjoyed this manga trilogy. I think they fit in well and go along side the novel series. I'd recommend these for fans of the series, but I'd say if you like this kinda of manga but didn't want fancy the novels for whatever reason then give them ago! 

Thanks for reading and next week I'm looking at the spin off series which follows Alexia and Conall's daughter Pru.      

Images from: Amazon UK. 

Book Review: The Shadows by J. R. Ward.

Hi readers, 

It's the first book review of the new year! I was hoping to have finished this book and got it up sooner, but it's been a hard slog. Which is a bit off for me because I love J .R. Ward and her Black Dagger Brotherhood, but this novel which is number 13 in the series, had issues. I know when I read The King (which I didn't review for whatever reason) and Lover At Last (http://hailscrazyblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/lover-at-last-review.html) I spotted a few problems and though Ward seems to have cut down her plot lines in Shadows, there's still a hell of a lot going on. 

As normal, I'll try and not spoil anything, though reading the book's blurb does give away the key points to the main plot. I guess to draw you in? But knowing straight off that the main female character is going to die doesn't draw me in that well. Reading about the how and why does though.

So, this time we get the story of the two Shadow brothers, who have appeared throughout the series and most of their back stories are all ready known. Trez and Serena finally get to be together, though they time is very limited as she dying. It's a genetic disease that is incurable and though most of the other characters spend all the books time searching for one, nothing is found to help her. Whilst, iAm meets the female he's destined to be with, though she's not as she seems. For me, not enough time is spent getting to know her, really. Maybe, there'll be another book about them, but it didn't feel like there was going to be at the end.

I was really getting into the whole romance between T and S and I kept thinking that something would happen so that she wouldn't have to die. I was waiting for the twist right up till the no return point and then after reading Rhage's thoughts about how he got to be with his Mary though she was human and dying, made me think about why this time Ward had decided not to let her main lovers be together. That is the massive spoiler and downside to this novel. I was reading a few reviews that other people had done on Goodreads and they said that Ward had stated that though she didn't want things to happen they way they did, the characters told her it had to be so. And I just don't get that. Why have all the other books have happy endings and not this one?

Throughout all the other books bringing the two main characters together has been the first plot point. In the earlier books this could always be seen and how the two lovers overcame their problems to be with each other was always interesting. Somehow there has always been a fix, (expect for Tor and Wellsie) and things have always worked out. So, why when clearly Trez and Serena were meant to be together they didn't get their happy ending? Maybe, because Ward didn't want all her books to end the same why or maybe the death was needed to shake up all the characters? Whatever, the case, it just doesn't work and left me feeling unsatisfied.

After going on a long heartbreaking trip with Trez and Serena, where she does a bucket list of events and really enjoys life, I really got to connect with her as a character. As a reader you invest time and energy into these characters and when the ending is rolling around you want to feel like they are going to end on a high note. Instead, I felt let down by the ending as we are left with Trez trying to deal with the loss of his lover and seeing that he has to repay his brother back for supporting him throughout everything. iAm on the other hand, gets to be with his love! How unfair does that feel to Trez? (Plus, given my return to single status, I really wanted that happy ending for them!) I now hope that Trez can have another chance at love with someone else soon.

So, what are the other problems with The Shadows? I felt that overall the book was just too long. There was stuff that could have been cut. Like do we need to know about the drug trading going on between the vampires and lessers? The lesser war really felt it had slipped to the sidelines this time around too. Those plot points felt lost between the lovers and Rhage struggling to sort himself out. The Band Of B* story and what's happening between Xcor and Layla did keep distracting me in a good way because I really want to know what's going to happen between them, but I feel they are going to need their own book to tell that story. The ending also just felt too neat. Things fell into place quickly in the last hundred pages or so with the wrap up to some of the plot points seemingly too loose.

I still really enjoyed this book though and do like how Ward has created individual and dynamic characters. They all feel so different to me even though there's so many of them. The use of dialogue is just great too and I like how there's lots of slag and male language because it makes it feel more realistic. The sex scenes work fine for me too and I always feel so immersed in the world of the BDB. If you've not read the books I would so recommend them. They put vampires in a different light and it works.

In the future though and as I have heard a small rumor about, I would love for Ward and the BDB to return to the formatting they had at the very beginning. I feel that if the overloading of characters and their stories carries on and if the more then six plot points keep happening, the series is just going to die. Which would be a shame because I really really like the novels, but I'm just so tried of having to read tombs of books where I can see stuff that could have easily been cut or moved to another book. Ward writings does seem to be falling and I can only hope it picks up soon and we see better novels coming out of her.           

So what's next for The Black Dagger Brotherhood? 

There's a spin off series, Legacy. The first book is already available to buy, but not for me as I want it in paperback. That won't be out till June, so I shall have to wait. (I could get it in hardback but I've very limited room at the moment and well, it won't fit in with the other BDB books and that'd bug me). I do know that the story is going to follow Paradise, a new female character that was introduced in The Shadows and I'd got interested in. Shame, I have to wait so long to read her story though.  

Then there's this: book 14. Which I just stumbled upon whilst getting the image for Blood Kiss. So, once again when I was kinda thinking that Ward was actually finishing up with the main brotherhood, I was wrong. Which now makes the loose ends of the Lessers, Layla's twins, the Band of B* and why there was a lot of focus on Rhage more into context. I've no doubt that this book will pick up where The Shadows left the story and reading the blurb, it looks like The Beast is going to to be all about Rhage. Which should be great for me because he is my favorite brother! This novel comes out in April, but it'll be October for me. 

Thanks for reading. Please feel free to like, leave a comment or share this post. Also, please check out my other links below.  


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